Most personal watercraft are provided with one or more storage bins to store various items. Some items are required by law such as, but not limited to, a watertight flashlight, flares, a whistle, a paddle, an anchor, a bailer, a rope, watercraft registration documents, an/or a fire extinguisher (it should be understood that these will vary depending on the jurisdiction). Others are items that the users of the watercraft may want to bring with them, such as towels, a cooler, or tools. Depending on the watercraft, a storage bin may be located under the seat or under the hood or both. A glove box is often also provided to store smaller items. One of the challenges faced by watercraft manufacturers is to discourage water from entering the storage bins.
FIGS. 7 to 10 illustrate a prior art personal watercraft storage bin and hood arrangement. In this arrangement, a personal watercraft 200 has a first storage bin 202, a second storage bin in the form of storage tray 204, and a hood 206 hinged to the deck 208. The first storage bin 202 is fixedly connected to the deck 208 of the watercraft 200 below an access opening in the deck 208. The storage tray 204 is disposed in the opening above the first storage bin 202 and rests on the edge of the opening (see FIG. 9). The storage tray 204 can be removed from the watercraft 200. The handle 210 provided in the storage tray 204 allows the storage tray 204 to easily be carried. The hood 206 is movable between an open position (FIG. 10) providing access to the storage bins 202, 204, and a closed position (FIGS. 7 and 8) preventing access to the storage bins 202, 204. As best seen in FIG. 9, a trim element 212 having three sealing ridges 214 is disposed around the opening. A pair of deformable seals 216 are connected to ridges 218 on an inner surface of the hood 206. When the hood 206 is in its closed position, the sealing ridges 214 engage the deformable seals 216 to provide a watertight seal which discourages water from entering the storage bins 202, 204. Additional details concerning an arrangement of this type can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,742 issued on Dec. 30, 2003.
Although the arrangement illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 10 satisfactorily discourages water from entering the storage bins 202, 204, providing the seals 216 on the hood 206 has some disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the inner surface of the hood 206 needs to be shaped to add the ridges 218 that will permit the seals 216 to press onto the sealing ridges 214. This increases the complexity of the hood 206. Also, care must be taken when fastening the hood 206 to the deck 208 to make sure that the seals 216 align with the sealing ridges 214 when the hood 206 is in its closed position.
Although the removable storage tray 204 allows items stored therein to be easily carried by the user away from the watercraft 202, once the storage tray 204 is removed from the watercraft 200, the items stored therein are exposed to the elements. If, for example, the storage tray 204 is carried on a beach, sand can go inside the storage tray 204.
Therefore, there is a need for a different arrangement for discouraging water from entering a storage bin to be used in a personal watercraft.
There is also a need for a storage bin for a personal watercraft which can be removed from the watercraft while maintaining the items stored therein protected from the elements.
Embodiments of the present invention address at least one of the above-mentioned needs or problems, but do not necessarily address all of them.